1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to test equipment for communications receivers, and in particular, to methods for generating test signals for complex digital communications systems.
2. Description of the Related Art
Requirements for modern test equipment have become increasingly advanced, since testing generally no longer involve small subsystems, but complete, and increasingly complex, systems. As a result, it is often necessary to generate complex test signals, particularly for digital communications equipment, to sufficiently exercise the functions and capabilities of the device under test (DUT). Many systems, including those implemented in integrated circuits and often referred to as a “system on a chip” (SOC), have many different test modes. Accordingly, implementing all such test modes in hardware in any given piece of test equipment is not practical. Hence, test equipment vendors more often provide software solutions to enable the user of the test equipment to generate customized test signals (often referred to as data packages). These software solutions often require significant knowledge on the part of the users, thereby necessitating significant training and learning for using the software. Furthermore, such software solutions are often very expensive and are usually overkill in the sense that many applications require relatively few and relatively simple tests, such as receiver sensitivity, as opposed to complex testing, such as the effects of specific bit errors.